latest 1.4.2 on windows 8 gives ugly "l" letter in PDF (viewed with Acrobat R.)

[gpciceri]

hi all,
I've just printed a pdf file (generated with latest scribus 1.4.2 on windows with a simple text frame (see the attachment). Viewed with Acrobat Reader, the "l" letters look strange.

What could it be?

TIA, regards.
/gp

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[utnik]

hi gpciceri

if you embed the font ('save as pdf' → 'fonts'), the text will be rendered well. outlined fonts are rendered like standard vector objects – with fonts it's a bit different. usually it's not as bad in print, as it's on screen. (the effect depends on the resolution – take a look at your .pdf file at different zoom levels...)

if you can't embed the font, control the settings: 'file → 'document setup → 'fonts'. 'use font' and 'embed in postscript' should be checked.

utnik

[gpciceri]

hello utnik,
thanks for the quick reply. my settings are the same you suggest (so, I'm embedding the fonts). and the problem occurs. With these settings, scribus 1.4.2  on windows 7 produces correct pdfs.

again, the pdf misvisualization occurs with acrobat reader on windows (generic, not win 8 specfic), and on win 8 the system pdf viewer (not acrobat reader) reads them right.

It should be something in (win 8 -> producing pdf) and (acrobat reader viewing them), but I've no idea of what.

HTH
/gp

[utnik]

hi gpciceri

in your .pdf file no font is embedded. (check it with 'ctrl' + 'd' in adobe reader!)
i don't know, what happens on your machine – i've never used win 8.
when a font can't be embedded, usually it jumps directly into the lower field ('fonts to outline') – can you put it in the upper one?

utnik

[gpciceri]

thanks utnik, you're right!
arial regular font jumps directly into the lower field ('fonts to outline') – I cannot put it in the upper one.

and I've tried to change the font to embed: apart of webdings it seems that my installation is not able to embed fonts.

regards
/gp

[utnik]

hi gpciceri

go to: 'file → 'document setup → 'fonts' and make sure that the boxes: 'use font' and 'embed in postscript' are checked.
then it should work, unless the font is protected against embedding (few fonts still have this protection flag...)

utnik

[gpciceri]

ehm... I've attached my setup.

I apologize, perhaps I'm missing something.


Thanks
/gp

[attachment deleted by admin]

[utnik]

hi gpciceri

...perhaps I'm missing something.

...i don't think so – the settings are looking ok for me. (maybe it helps to uncheck the 'subset' box...)

utnik

[gpciceri]

yes, uncheck the 'subset' box helps. but the result is the same (no font embedded in pdf, "l" still looks weird).

/gp

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[utnik]

i can't help – sorry!

when i export a .pdf from your .sla file it works. i have no idea, what's going wrong on your win 8 system...

utnik


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[Arran]

With me, all your «l» look fine.

Heve you ever printed your page on paper?

[dave61430]

I see the problem in windows 7, opening in pdf24 looks ok in preview, but saving shows problem. However, the original pdf seems to print ok on my laser printer. I don't have foxit reader on my machine, perhaps somebody that does could check.

[gpciceri]

thanks to all, printing the pdf was always ok. and visualizing it using foxit reader is ok, too. the proble occurs viewing it with acrobat reader (and of course it's the one all my users has).

at this point I suppose the pdf library has hit some hidden adobe internal secret.

regards
/gp

[Nermander]

The reason the glyph looks strange on screen probably because the hinting has disappeared. Does it look strange even if you zoom in? Does it look strange when you print the PDF?

This has been explained before: OpenType fonts comes in different flavors, some of them can not be embedded or subset into a PDF due to their structure. Such fonts will be converted (I think to Type 3 postscript fonts) which in Scribus is called "outline".

[utnik]

the problem is, that not even a type 3 ps variant is embedded. i have never seen this in my files generated by scribus...
of course zooming in reduces the problem. it's pixel related and the width of the error will always be less than one pixel.

i would try with another font (arial is no favorit of mine anyway...) as a last option before reinstalling scribus (and maybe ghostscript) and finally filing a bug report, if nothing helps.

utnik

...just added a file with outlined font – it looks ok. and by viewing the document properties you'll find the embedded type 3 font...

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